"Chief Justice Must Appear Before National Assembly" vs. "Attempt to Control the Judiciary"

[Anchor]

The political friction surrounding the written nomination of a Supreme Court justice is intensifying at the National Assembly. The Democratic Party has demanded that Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae appear before the Assembly as a witness, and has also revived a bill to abolish the National Court Administration, which acts as the "hands and feet" of the Chief Justice. The People Power Party hit back, calling it an "attempt to seize control of the judiciary" and declaring that "the ones who should be seated in the witness box are the president and the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs."

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Lawmakers belonging to the pan-ruling parties on the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a press conference this morning (the 21st), claiming that accepting Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's nomination of a Supreme Court justice candidate—which bypassed normal consultations and procedures—would set a dangerous precedent. They urged the presidential office to reject Chief Justice Cho's nomination of Supreme Court justice candidate Son Bong-gi.

[Kim Yong-min / Democratic Party Lawmaker: The presidential office must review all means permitted by the Constitution and laws to protect the president's legitimate appointment power.]

During the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Democratic Party escalated pressure on the judiciary by pointing out that there are more than 20 complaints filed against Chief Justice Cho, including this latest controversy, and urging the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) to launch an investigation.

[Seo Young-gyo / Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Democratic Party Lawmaker): Complaints have been filed with the CIO, haven't they? As far as I understand, there are about 23 complaints related to Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. Why aren't you indicting? Is it appropriate to drag it out for so long?]

Democratic Party lawmakers also adopted both Chief Justice Cho and National Court Administration Director Noh Kyung-pil as witnesses, announcing plans to summon them to the National Assembly on the 31st for a pending issues questioning. In response, People Power Party lawmakers protested, calling it an "attempt to seize control of the judiciary," staged a mass walkout from the meeting, and held a counter press conference, asserting that "the ones who should be put in the witness box are the president and the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs."

[Park Hyung-su / People Power Party Lawmaker: Summoning the Chief Justice to the National Assembly to interrogate the background of the nomination is an attempt by the Assembly to post-examine the nomination power entrusted to the Chief Justice by the Constitution.]

Within the Democratic Party, arguments also emerged that the National Court Administration—which manages judicial administrative affairs—has served as a shock troop for Chief Justice Cho, prompting calls to accelerate the processing of a pending bill to abolish the agency. The ruling-opposition clash over the written nomination crisis is poised to spread into a wider controversy over judicial reform.

(Camera Reporter: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing: Jeon Min-gyu)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.